Biography

American actress who played bit parts from 1943, moving into major leads by the mid-'50s, capturing the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for "Written on the Wind" in 1954. She was also featured in the "Peyton Place" TV series for four years during the ‘60s. She left Hollywood to go into real estate, though she appeared most recently in the Michael Douglas/Sharon Stone movie, "Basic Instinct."

She was the oldest of three children, including a brother, Robert, who is a Dallas lawyer, and another brother, Will, who died in 1955 at the age of 16 when struck by lightning. Her father was an auditor for AT&T, and the family moved to Dallas when Dorothy was six months old. She attended public school there, as well as the Ursuline Convent, Highland Park High School and the Hockaday School for Girls. She was president of her high school class, and was ROTC Queen as well as captain of the girls’ basketball team. She was also an expert diver. She studied dancing as a child, and while in school modeled for Neiman-Marcus. She appeared in many school plays, receiving awards for her work, and had a scholarship to Southern Methodist University where she majored in both drama and languages.

Spotted by an RKO talent scout, Dorothy was screen-tested in Dallas, then went to Hollywood with her mother, where RKO signed her to a term contract. She had a few bit parts before changing her name to Malone for "Too Young to Know," 1945. Her chance to shine came in "The Big Sleep" and by that time she had been released from her RKO contract and signed up with Warner Brothers. They started giving her larger roles, though for the most part, she appeared in minor films. The film "Battle Cry," in 1953 was a turning point and she received the film’s best reviews. In "Written on the Wind," in 1954, she played a nymphomaniac oil heiress and won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar that year for her role. In 1964, she was handed the lead role in "Peyton Place" on ABC-TV and stayed with the series for four years. Overall, it was an up-and-down career in which she seems to have made a number of bad choices.

Around 1965, she was rushed to the hospital for surgery to remove clots from blood vessels leading to her lungs, and narrowly escaped death.

In 1968, she officially quit Hollywood and returned to Dallas. She was a real estate agent for a while, and also did public relations work for an insurance company. During the '70s she made some TV appearances.

Malone was officially engaged in 1952 to actor Scott Brady, but they ended their relationship in 1957. She was also involved with Sidney Chaplin and Richard Egan. She married Jacques Bergerac, ex-husband of Ginger Rogers, on 6/28/1959 in Hong Kong while on location for a movie. The four-year marriage produced two daughters, Mimi, born 4/03/1960, and Diane, born 2/20/1962. Malone was granted a divorce on 12/8/1964. In April 1969, she married New York businessman Rober Tomarkin in Las Vegas, but the marriage was annulled four weeks later. In 1971, she married motel chain executive Charles Bell of Dallas.